TN officials warn investors about online company

State regulators are warning investors about a British company that may be selling unregistered securities over the internet.

The Tennessee Securities Division said Inter Reef Ltd., doing business as Profitable Sunrise, was using fictitious Tennessee addresses and has been targeted by regulators in neighboring North Carolina.

“These allegations are serious enough that we want to caution Tennesseans to be wary,” said Daphne Smith, the state’s assistant securities commissioner.

N.C. regulators issued a temporary cease-and-desist order last month against Inter Reef and its principals, Radoslav Novak and Roman Novak, both residents of the United Kingdom.

Through their www.profitablesunrise.com website, they promoted five investment plans offering returns of 1.6 percent to 2.7 percent compounded daily for 180 to 240 days, the order said. One N.C. investor tried to wire $500 to a bank account in the Czech Republic as instructed, but the investor’s credit union became suspicious and notified authorities.

The order accuses the Novaks and Inter Reef of failing to register and of selling unregistered securities in North Carolina. They are not registered in Tennessee either, officials said.